'Positio' for Fr. Peyton's cause sent to Vatican

Catholic News Service

5/21/15

A "positio," or position paper on the life and holiness of Holy Cross Father Patrick Peyton, has been presented to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome. Father Peyton is pictured in an undated photo.

EASTON, Mass. - Presentation of the "positio," or official
position paper, on the life and holiness of Father Patrick
Peyton to a Vatican congregation is the latest step in the
sainthood cause of the Holy Cross priest.

A May 18 statement issued by Holy Cross Family Ministries in
Easton said the document was four years in the making and is
the synthesis of a 6,000-page report completed by tribunals
in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and 34 other dioceses around
the world.

"We are very pleased to see progress in Father Peyton's
cause," said Holy Cross Father Wilfred Raymond. "Many people
regularly tell me we need a 'saint for families' and that
Father Peyton is the appropriate candidate."

Father Peyton came to the United States from Ireland in 1928
when he was 19. Ordained in 1941, he was the founder of Holy
Cross Family Ministries, which includes Family Rosary, Family
Theater Productions, Father Peyton Family Institute and
Family Rosary International.

His ministry produced more than 600 radio and television
programs and 10,000 broadcasts. The priest also conducted
rosary crusades for millions of people in dozens of
countries.

Father Raymond, president of Holy Cross Family Ministries,
delivered the "positio" to the Vatican Congregation for
Saints' Causes April 21. Joining him were Andrea Ambrosi of
Rome and Holy Cross Father David S. Marcham of North Easton,
who are, respectively, postulator and vice postulator of
Father Peyton's cause. Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila,
Philippines, was there as well.

"We honor Father Peyton's memory by bringing families
together to pray, especially the rosary," Father Raymond
added in his statement. "We continue to fulfill his vision by
sharing his strong belief with families around the world that
the family that prays together stays together."

Father Peyton died in 1992 and is buried in Easton. His
sainthood cause was opened in June 2001 in the Diocese of
Fall River. It was moved from that diocese to the Baltimore
Archdiocese by the Vatican, citing the archdiocese's
experience with other sainthood causes.

Father Peyton was known worldwide as "The Rosary Priest." He
had two especially famous mottos: "The family that prays
together stays together" and "A world at prayer is a world at
peace."